The present invention relates to automated telecommunications voice messaging systems.
In recent years, telemarketing has become increasingly common. Because the target of such calls often does not wish to be subjected to an unsolicited sales pitch, it is desirable to monitor or screen telephone calls in realtime before answering them. The simple telephone answering machine allows messages from callers to be listened to as the messages are dropped into the answering machine""s recording device. If the user so chooses, he or she can barge into the call and speak directly with the caller. If the user does not wish to speak with the caller, the recording of the message can be allowed to proceed normally.
As an alternative to the answering machine, server-based voice message systems for answering calls when a user is not available are offered by various service providers. For example, a residential user may subscribe to a voice messaging service offered by that user""s local telephone company. In a business setting, the user""s telephone may be part of a private branch exchange or other system interconnected to a voice messaging system. Although such voice mail systems provide users with a wide variety of desirable functions, they do not provide a call screening function. The call screening function could be provided by the addition of certain hard-wired connections to conventional voice messaging systems, but such a solution would be expensive to implement and relatively inflexible in operation. Accordingly, the screening of calls answered by voice messaging systems is generally impossible from telephones that subscribe to a voice mail service.
Conventional answering machine and voice messaging systems also offer a user no way to monitor telephone calls placed to his or her telephone number when the user is away from the telephone or when the telephone line is otherwise in use. Therefore, although certain existing voice mail systems allow users remote access to a log of calls placed to their telephone number and any associated message, there is no provision for realtime monitoring of telephone calls from a remote location. Furthermore, where the user""s telephone line is being used to provide the user with a connection to a network such as the Internet, conventional systems do not provide realtime monitoring of telephone calls placed to the user""s line.
The present invention is directed to solving these and other problems and disadvantages of the prior art. Generally, according to the present invention, a messaging system is interfaced with a client computer such that when a message is deposited in a mailbox belonging to a subscriber of the messaging system, a copy of that message is automatically sent to the client computer for screening. According to the present invention, the deposited message is transmitted to the client computer using a packet-based communication protocol. Additionally, the present invention provides the subscriber with the ability to barge into a call as a message is being deposited, and to speak with the caller directly in realtime.
In particular, the present invention provides a software subsystem employing Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) audio transmission and generic TCP/IP remote procedure calls to provide a client application that can communicate with the centralized messaging server of a voice mail system using a TCP/IP-based network. A client application in the form of a graphical user interface (GUI) running on the client computer enables the user or subscriber to log in to the messaging server by providing information such as the telephone number to be monitored and a password for authentication. At the time the subscriber logs in, the IP address and connecting port number (i.e. TCP/IP socket) of the client computer is registered with the centralized messaging server to allow communications between the client computer and the messaging server.
According to the present invention, an incoming call that has been transferred to the messaging server is checked against the server""s database of telephone lines or extensions to monitor. The messaging server of the present invention can be used in connection with a private branch exchange (PBX) that is part of a private enterprise, or as part of the public switched telephony network (PSTN). For purposes of simplification, the present application will describe the invention in the context of a private branch exchange having associated telephone extensions, although the invention is equally applicable to telephone lines associated with the public switched telephony network. If the incoming call has been made to an extension that the server has been instructed to monitor, notification of the incoming call is made to the subscriber at the registered IP address over the TCP/IP-based network. The GUI associated with the client computer allows the subscriber to ignore the call, monitor the call, or barge in. When the call is ignored, the incoming message is stored normally on the messaging server. If the subscriber chooses to monitor the call, a recording of the message is stored normally on the messaging server and the message is provided in realtime to the subscriber at the client computer over the TCP/IP-based network. Finally, if the subscriber chooses to barge in, the messaging server issues a message to the caller that the subscriber is available, and establishes two-way communications between the subscriber and the caller, with at least a portion of the communication circuit between the messaging server and the subscriber being completed over the TCP/IP-based network.